Second Brain Vault vs BrainDump
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Second Brain Vault
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βWhere did I save that?β β now you can just ask. Save a note, photo, PDF, voice memo or link; the on-device AI titles, summarizes and tags it, then finds it by meaning later. Free for 100 saves. No account, no server. We're all good at saving. The real question was always "where did I put that?" Second Brain Vault flips the order: you save, the AI organizes and recalls. HOW IT WORKS β’ Save in one tap β a note, a photo, a voice memo, a PDF, or a web link. Anything, instantly, into your vault. β’ AI organizes it for you β every saved item gets a title, a summary, a category, and tags, automatically. Photos are read with OCR, voice is transcribed, PDFs and links have their text extracted. β’ Recall like a person β ask "that real-estate article I read last year," "the best cold-noodle place I saved," "the app idea I jotted last month," and it finds the right memory. It's hybrid retrieval β semantic meaning plus keywords plus recency β so it works even when you don't remember the exact words. β’ It grows with you β Insights show your top topics and saving trends, and every week the AI writes a short Retrospective of what you saved. The more you save, the higher your Brain Level. WHAT'S INSIDE β’ Home β today's and recent items, plus a one-line AI insight β’ Quick capture β five kinds: note, photo, audio, PDF, link β’ Natural-language Recall β hybrid semantic + keyword + recency ranking β’ Insights β top topics, save volume, Brain Level growth β’ Weekly Retrospective β an AI recap of your week of memories β’ Automatic categories & tags β organized without you filing anything PRIVACY BY CONSTRUCTION Everything is processed on this iPhone. Because it uses Apple's on-device AI (Foundation Models), your notes, photos, voice and documents never leave the device. No account, no server, no ads, no tracking. The only time it uses the internet is to fetch the page of a web link you choose to save. APPLE INTELLIGENCE REQUIRED Auto-organizing, natural-language search, Insights and the Retrospective run on Apple-Intelligence-capable devices. On other devices you can still save and search by keyword; the AI features show an "Apple Intelligence required" state. START FREE, UNLOCK WHEN YOU NEED IT Free: up to 100 items, full on-device AI organizing & search on all 100, every capture type, Insights and Brain Level included. Pro (β©6,600 / year): unlimited saves, iCloud backup & sync, weekly Retrospective history, and more. Lifetime (β©29,000, one-time): everything in Pro, forever, no renewal. You save it; Second Brain Vault remembers it. Drop in your first memory today. β Device requirements AI auto-organizing and semantic (meaning-based) search require an Apple Intelligenceβcapable device β iPhone 15 Pro / 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16/17 or later, iOS 26 or later. On other devices, saving and keyword search still work fully. Everything is processed on-device; nothing is ever sent off your iPhone. β Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://blue-code.github.io/legal/second-brain-vault/privacy.en.html
BrainDump
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BrainDump is an AI-powered voice memo app. Just speak, and the AI will automatically summarize and structure your thoughts into a Notion-like format. It automatically extracts To-Dos, schedule items, and emotions, making it perfect for brain dumps, meeting minutes, and daily journals. Features: - Speak naturally, and the AI structures it - Automatic To-Do & schedule extraction - Notion-like beautiful UI - iCloud Auto-Sync - Completely ad-free (Premium) Organize your brain effortlessly with BrainDump!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Second Brain Vault at none against BrainDump's shown. BrainDump's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Second Brain Vault sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and BrainDump sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Second Brain Vault ships an update every 4 months, BrainDump every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Second Brain Vault | BrainDump |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 days β better |
| Ads | No β better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad β better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 18.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Byoungho Kim | KAZUYA AKANUMA |
In-app purchases
Second Brain Vault
- Second Brain Vault (Lifetime)$17.99
BrainDump
- γγ¬γγ’γ γγ©γ³$2.991 Month
Questions
Is Second Brain Vault free?
Is BrainDump free?
Do Second Brain Vault or BrainDump have ads?
Which is updated more often, Second Brain Vault or BrainDump?
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